Dance With The Lux Veritatis
by Inkbottledjinn
Summary: Revised and reposted! Kurtis' POV of the scene in the Louvre.


**A/N:** Okay…I admit, the previous version of this was near terrible. So I've rewritten it! I hope you enjoy this version of it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed before: I really appreciate it! And, uhh, I'm not that very good with first person view by the way, so it may switch from present tense to past tense every now and then. Rated T for a few swear words.I just thought I'd let you know. Enjoy!

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**Dance With The Lux Veritatis**

I raised my head when the alarms went off, flickering my eyes over the room for any signs of a coming attack. None. Good.

Gunderson must have broken in already, which means that he and his men will be looking for that Croft woman and might possibly ambush her, and I can't have that. Not when I spent about two freakin' hours coming up with this plan.

The plan? Simple. I break into the Louvre and wait around while _Lady Croft_ gets the Obscura Painting, and then I ambush her somehow and steal it from her. Well, I've already broken into the Louvre, and I'm currently leaning against the door in the men's toilets, having a smoke. I can't wait around here for long, though, because I've gotta catch Croft before she manages to escape with that painting. I _need_ that painting, more than she does for sure. Why is she even looking for it, anyway? I saw an article in the paper that she was a suspect for being the Monstrom Killer, after being found near the dead body of some guy called Werner Von Croy, but she can't be. Eckhardt is. Maybe she's trying to find out why that guy is dead? Do I even _care_?

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror opposite me and smirked, flicking the cigarette away into the sink. I shouldn't be standing around here wondering why she's trying to get the Obscura Painting. What matters is that I steal it off her and get on with my own business. I turned to face the door and pulled it open, pulling my Boron X out and sneaking down the corridor, turning left and walking up the stairs to the right. If my calculations are correct – and I'm _always_ correct – then Croft should be nearby.

She's good at this, I'll give her that much. I had broken into this place probably about five minutes before she had, and I had basically chilled out in the gift store for three boring hours. I had seen her at one point, going into a room with a lot of red lasers, and she had gotten past them _all_ by jumping around and several acrobatic moves. Honestly, that girl can _move_.

I raised my head when I heard voices. To be more precise, Russian voices. Normally I would probably be telling myself that I would have to hide so that I wouldn't get caught. But Gunderson's men are no match for me, never have been. I'm the Demon Hunter for Christ's sake. And, yes, I gave myself the name. It seemed to fit.

The voices seemed to be getting closer, so I used my telekinesis to release the blades from the discus attached to my belt. I slotted my fingers in the holes and pulled it off, holding it up beside my head in a 'prepared to attack' way. I pressed my back flush against the side of the huge stairs in the room, listening carefully. If anyone came this way, then they would certainly get a nice new wound to their neck, or some other body part.

Someone shouted suddenly, almost startling me. Something about a devil woman, and then there was gunshots and the sounds of fighting upstairs. I quickly turned and jogged back the way I came, dashing down the stairs and turned left into a room with glass cases full of artefacts. The gunshots up in the previous room ceased, and I knew that Croft was coming; I just _knew_ that she had won the struggle.

So I pressed myself against the wall on my right, moving along it so that I would be out of sight of the doorway I had just come from. The blades in my Chirugai were still out. Wait…that's it. I know how I can corner her. I held the Chirugai out in front of me and concentrated my mind on it, letting go and watching as it floated in front of me. Then a fire enveloped its blades, giving it a new dangerous look. I glanced to the left when I heard footsteps, and saw that she was coming.

One definite thing about her is that she's not a rookie when it comes to guns and martial arts. If I had to guess, I'd say that she could shoot the stinger off a hornet from thirty yards. So I can't just run towards her with my gun, because, although I'm probably the more skilled one out of the two of us, it probably wouldn't end nicely. No, if I want the Painting, I had to corner her first. Not necessarily literally. Heh, see Dad, I do have a good vocabulary.

She was walking forwards now, Desert Ranger clutched tightly in her hands, her eyes wandering over the room for any more of Gunderson's men. Glancing at my Chirugai, I made it go forwards and turn left, so that it doubled back and went straight for her. For the briefest moment, her eyes widened in shock, but I saw the exact second that her instincts kicked in. She dodged it quickly and gracelessly, arching her back to keep her head away from its blades and her arms stretched out to balance her body. For a moment, I was captivated, watching this beautiful dance of hers. But then I heard the Chirugai lodge into the wall and I was brought back to reality. She had turned in a full circle, facing the bladed disc and holding her gun towards it. I watched as she turned around in the direction it had come from, and I knew this was my chance. She was backing away now, slowly, with her gun half raised, so I silently made my way behind her, pressing the nuzzle of my gun against the nape of her neck.

Her entire body language spoke her shock for her, and I saw the shiver that the cold metal caused, and heard the soft gasp that was released from her lips. There was something about that sound…it caused something in me, some kind of fluttering feeling in my stomach that I had never felt before. And, before I knew it, I was stepping close to her, so close that I could feel the heat from her body. She was tense, obviously ready for a fight, and when she turned her head to try and get a look at me, I pressed the barrel of the gun harder into her neck, showing her who was in charge here. She tried again, so I repeated the action. I heard a small hiss of pain, probably my own doing, from pushing the gun so hard into her neck.

Then, as I placed my hand on her bare shoulder, I heard her release a shaky breath at the shock of skin against skin. It was a shock for me, too. She was so warm and soft. So I made sure that my touch was gentle. I trailed my hand down her arm slowly, gently, wanting to close my eyes as I heard her breathing become slightly shaky. She was holding the gun in her left hand, so I reached for it, brushing my fingers along her wrist and tilting her arm so that I could touch her hand. I touched the gun, and noticed how loosely she was holding it. I pushed it out of her hand, and it clattered to the floor noisily. And I just couldn't resist brushing my fingers along her palm, feeling more than seeing the shiver that went down her spine.

I was really pushing it, though, when I placed my hand on her hip, brushing it upwards and then moving it along her abdomen. She gasped again when I brushed my fingertips below the band of her combats, but I willed myself not to go any further. I was distracting her god dammit, nothing more. _Nothing more_.

There is nothing more to this. Just a small distraction. It's just a distraction when I place my hand on her other hip, my arm completely around her waist, under her left arm, taking her other gun and throwing it away. It's just a distraction when I let my hand linger there, bringing it back up to brush against her stomach once more. Just a distraction, so that I can reach into her backpack and search in it for the Painting while she composes herself.

She's pissed at me now. Her entire body language says it. I carefully place the Obscura Painting in my pocket and zip up her backpack for her. Might as well be a gentleman about it.

I was just about to back away when she suddenly turned around, obviously to try and attack me. So, to keep her in place, I slammed my foot down onto hers and pressed my gun up against her chest, directly where her heart was. She let out a gasp of pain when our feet connected, but I saw the moment she froze, the moment where she finally got a look at me and realize who I was.

And it was truly the first time that I had seen her up close, and I felt my throat close, so that I couldn't form any words even if I wanted to. God, just...she was so beautiful. I've seen and been with quite a few women in my life, but none of them compare to the woman in front of me. Now, I'm not a one that usually just drops to my knees like some _Romeo_ wanna-be, but...God.

I could see that she was affected by the current situation as well as I was, maybe not for the same reasons, although I _am_ quite good looking, even I have to admit, so don't bother calling me vain. And there was this moment, this small moment where I almost lost control, and we were suddenly leaning towards each other, prepared for a kiss, when my damn conscience came in to play. I pressed the gun harder into her chest, pushing her back slightly. Her dark brown eyes were shining with confusion, seeming to say '_I know you want this too'_ and, God, did I. But it's not like we can just start necking on in a museum with Gunderson and his men somewhere else in the same building. And, besides, I have to get the hell out of here as soon as possible with the Obscura Painting.

But then she was moving again, her lips parted, her warm breath touching my cheeks. I just couldn't resist. I moved with her, our lips just barely brushing, the contact sending electricity through my entire body. My heart was hammering in my chest, and there was this fluttering feeling in my stomach and in the bottom of my spine. But then, before we could actually kiss, I got a hold of myself and pressed the barrel into her chest once again, pushing her away. This time, I took a few steps backwards, the gun still raised, our eyes locked.

I raised my hand and watched as she glanced over at the Chirugai, watched as she whirled around, her hand reached out as if to grab it. She followed it as it moved around her in a circle, and she watched as it came towards me and latched onto my hand.

That was the moment where the spell put on us broke. Our eyes locked. During my childhood, I was trained to use my mind with telekinesis and telepathy, but most of the time I refused to read people's minds. This time, though I had no choice in matter. She was thinking so hard and angrily that I couldn't _not_ hear it, and the thought that I was picking up from her made me smirk.

"_You son-of-a-bitch_."

I heard men approaching, and whirled around quickly, taking off through to the next room and down a corridor. I could hear distant gunshots, and Gunderson ordering his men to shoot Croft. They would most likely fail. No, scratch that, they _would_ fail. Croft was way better and skilled than them.

And then I heard footsteps behind me, almost matching my speed, and I glanced behind quickly to see that Croft was chasing after me. I'm not actually surprised.

I felt her hands brush my shoulders, and ignored the electricity that the simple contact ignited. I whirled around in a full circle, throwing her hands off of me, and turning to a door, holding my hand up towards it, palm facing it. I felt a small blast of energy leave me, and the door flew off its hinges, allowing me to run through to the next room. Croft followed me, almost grabbing me again. Damn this chick was fast.

After taking in the scenery within the blink of an eye, I threw my Chirugai up at the huge gong suspended on the wall. The blades cut through the rope holding it up, and the gong fell to the floor, rolling towards the only doorway out of here. Croft was still running towards me, so I guided the blades with my mind for her. She gasped and rolled forwards, dodging the blades easily as they came back for me. She got to her feet, but then froze in shock, because I was suddenly holding the blades to her neck. I smirked at her, at the glare in her eyes, as the gong continued to roll towards the doorway. I took off only a few seconds later, dodging past the artefact and running down the corridor. No doubt that Croft would be on my tail in about ten seconds time.

So when I came to the stairs, I sat down on the railing, waiting for her to show up. Even though the situation was kind of serious, I was actually having fun. I mean, come on, I've been coming across Croft quite a lot of times, and it's obvious that she's after Eckhardt for some reason, so it's probably inevitable that we'll actually have a conversation some time in the near future, so why not have a little bit of fun with her? Rile her up a little bit? And, besides, that frustration in her dark eyes, that anger, makes her look so much beautiful than she already is for some reason. I don't know, maybe I'm just a perv.

And then I heard her footsteps approaching, so I held up my hand – the one holding the Chirugai – and started waving. I saw her come around the corner, so fast that she banged her shoulder into the wall. I smirked when she saw me and gave her a salute, before throwing my Chirugai away behind me and dropping off backwards, flipping over in mid air and using my telekinesis to help with the landing. If I didn't, I probably would have broken my legs, and possibly my spine, because the drop was at least twenty-five feet. I landed with a grunt, and then stood up, catching my Chirugai and commanding the blades to retract. I reattached it to my belt and looked up. Croft was looking down at me, obviously surprised that I had lived through the fall.

I watched, waiting, as she ran down the stairs as quick as she could so that she wouldn't fall. I suppose half of me wanted to play with her some more, draw the race out as quick as possible, maybe form an alliance once both of us are safely away from the Louvre. The other half? Well...maybe I want to make sure she makes it down safely. So that she could help out later on, of course.

She was near the bottom now, so I turned around and ran down the corridor to the emergency exit door, bursting out quickly. I glanced behind to see if she had caught up yet, but when I turned back to watch where I was going, I was met with the sight of a wooden bat coming straight for my face. It was too late for my defences to kick in, and I felt a white hot blow across my face, spinning me around and forcing me to land on the concrete pavement, lying on my stomach, darkness taking over yet not quite consuming me.

I could hear faint footsteps, someone coming out of the Louvre and pausing. Croft... She was coming closer to me, I could feel her fingers brushing my shoulder gently, and I ached to open my eyes and tell her to get the hell out of here before she got hurt too, but I just _couldn't_. My head hurt so much. Croft, no, leave.

There was a crack, and I heard a body fall down next to me, a woman releasing a pained groan, and then the darkness took me.

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I woke up with a pounding headache, that could have come from two things. One: serious drinking the night before, or Two: someone cracked me on the side of the head.

I opened my eyes slowly, and saw Croft lying down on the ground next to me. I've probably only been out for about two minutes or something, and I don't remember drinking last night. Then I remembered the bat coming for me after the chase I had with Croft. Ah, hell. Just proves I'm getting a little rusty. I'll have to see to that later.

Meanwhile, I've just got to get my body working again. God, I feel so weak for some reason. I glanced down and noticed her hand near mine, and I moved my fingers ever so slightly, feeling my skin brush against hers gently. I smiled weakly at the contact. Groaning softly, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked down at her face, checking for any injuries. A few scrapes on her arms, a small cut on her cheek, and a nasty looking bruise forming on her head. Probably from the same guy/girl that knocked me out. I hope it wasn't a girl, because that would just be downright embarrassing.

I took this moment to observe Croft silently. Her eyelashes made her skin look a bit pale, and the peaceful expression just added to her beauty, two brown strands of hair over her left eye. With a small smile, I brushed it aside. Maybe we could form an alliance later. With her skills, she would make a good team-mate.

A sudden thought struck me, and I had to be careful not to stir her as I opened up her backpack and searched around in it as quietly as I could. When I was in here before, I had seen some nice look shades. I found them after a few seconds, and took them out, zipping her backpack closed. Carefully, I placed the sunglasses on her, leaning back with a small smirk. If she was going to be unconscious, she might as well look cool. And that she did.

I stood up slowly, rubbing the sore spot on my cheek as I got my bearings. I've got to get out of here, before she wakes up, and before anybody else comes along. Maybe we would meet up again later on. It was possible.

Jogging down the alley and into the street, I mulled over the thought as I glanced around for anybody. Nope, no one. Good. Now where did I put my bike?

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**AN:** There we go, how was that? I hope it's better than the previous version. Wait, _anything_ is better than that lol.

And just a quick reply to _Acid Rush's_ question "_Is that purposefully a play on the title of one of the soundtrack compositions?_" - Yes, it is. I couldn't think of anything to name it, and then I remembered that title and thought that it would be perfect.

I'm mostly likely to write more little one shots in Kurtis' point of view, and I'll probably upload them in this "story" so that it fits into one nice little package. Anyway, thanks for reading, and sorry for any mistakes!


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